Along the roadside in Kolkata, India, vendors had spread tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach and chilies on plastic tarps and burlap bags. Each vendor hoped they would get more customers today, earn more money, and better feed their family.

As I walked, searching for the best vegetables, I spotted something unusual at one vendor’s stall. The woman’s produce was ordinary, but in her small change bowl was a beautiful coin. The coin was old, possibly from the era when India was part of the British empire. As a lifelong coin collector, I wanted it!

Stooping down, I selected some vegetables. As I handed her my money, I pointed at the coin, and in broken Bengali, said “give that one please.”

Ignoring my request, she counted out my change and handed it to me. As I accepted it, I pointed to the attractive coin again. “Please, I want that one.” She answered with a long, complicated sentence. I looked at her, unable to understand what she said, except that she wouldn’t be easily persuaded to part with that coin.

Finally, she simply said, “It is my idol,” putting her hands together and bowing toward it. She trusted this coin to make her vegetables sell and her small shop thrive.

As I walked away, my heart began to ache, not because of the coin, but for this woman.

We will soon launch to Papua New Guinea, but who will go and become her friend? Who will gain her confidence and trust? Who will teach her about the power of Jesus to bless her shop? Is God calling you to share the gospel with someone selling vegetables in the street?

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